PM Modi meets Kapoor family to mark centenary celebrations of late Raj Kapoor

PM Modi said that the centenary celebrations of Raj Kapoor “symbolised the saga of the golden journey of Indian film Industry”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met the members of Kapoor family and held a candid conversation on the upcoming centenary celebrations of legendary filmmaker and actor Raj Kapoor. PM Modi also shared the highlights from the meeting on his social platform x.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses for a group picture with the Kapoor family during their meet ahead of the upcoming Raj Kapoor 100 Film Festival on Raj Kapoor's centenary, in New Delhi on Tuesday. Neetu Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and others present.(ANI)

PM Modi said that the centenary celebrations of Raj Kapoor “symbolised the saga of the golden journey of the Indian film Industry”. He noted that the movie “Neel Kamal” was made in 1947 and said its contribution over the years was “momentous”, a government release said.

The prime minister also said that Raj Kapoor had established the soft power of the country at a time when the term “India” itself was not coined. PM Modi described this as his immense contribution to the service of India.

He also urged the Kapoor family to make a movie on the legendary actor, catering to Central Asia, who, PM Modi said is “still mesmerising the people there even after so many years”.

He also noted that Central Asia holds a huge potential for Indian cinema and urged the family to put efforts into reaching out to new generations in those countries.

Reema Kapoor, daughter of the late Raj Kapoor, thanked PM Modi for sparing his “valuable time” for the meeting and recited a few lines of a song from the late actor's movie. She also said that the late actor can be called as India's “cultural ambassador”.

PM Modi, to highlight the power of cinema, cited an anecdote when the erstwhile Jan Sangh had lost the elections in Delhi. He said the leaders then watched Raj Kapoor's movie “Phir Subah Hogi”, meaning there will be dawn again, and noted that the party had seen the dawn again.

Ranbir Kapoor thanked the Centre, NFDC, and NFAI for their assistance in doing a retrospective of Raj Kapoor on 13th, 14th and 15th December 2024.

He also informed PM Modi that the family had restored their audio and visual in 10 films of late Raj Kapoor, which would be exhibited in 160 theatres in around 40 cities all over India. He also informed the prime minister that the premiere show would be held on the 13 December in Mumbai, with key members of the film industry in attendance.